Critic's Notebook

Kodak Black, XXXTentacion, and Ski Mask the Slump God feature in our look at the local rap scene.

Longtime promoter Aramis Lorie is used to hurricanes. He’s been through Andrew, Wilma, and Katrina. But Irma definitely threw him for a loop. He couldn’t leave his aging parents behind, and he was afraid of abandoning his bar, 1306, located in the quickly gentrifying but still somewhat industrial part of North Miami Avenue just north of the I-195 overpass.

This weekend, the effects of Hurricane Irma stormed into South Florida, threatening coastal areas with a storm surge that blew refrigerators clear out into the road in the Keys and turned Brickell streets into Venetian canals. Also within the storm’s targets: the array of nightclubs that have made Miami famous…

Burglars steal a 46-inch flat-screen TV, two Pioneer controllers, the security cameras, and a Pioneer gold mixer from Coldharbour studio in Pembroke Pines

There’s a white mansion off Alton Road in Miami Beach with a circular driveway, a balcony, and landscaping the neighborhood kid with a lawnmower wouldn’t dare mess with. A lot of millennials work at home, but this is something special.

Director Andreas Neumann’s latest documentary, American Valhalla, chronicles the secret collaboration between Iggy Pop and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age on the 2016 album Post Pop Depression. Wednesday night, Iggy and Sweat Records founder Lauren “Lolo” Reskin found a common mission at the film’s Miami premiere at O Cinema Miami Beach.

Last year, Gaby Guerrero put herself on the map of Miami’s underground R&B scene with her EP Polarized. This year, she’s channeling the likes of Solange, FKA Twigs, and early Sia on her longer and more mature EP, Second Chances.

One day, 20 years from now, the opening guitar notes of “Despacito” will evoke equal amounts of nostalgia and revulsion — just like its commercially successful predecessor, “Macarena.” Let us explain.

Latin trap is getting its time to shine in Miami. Most recently, Farruko, a Puerto Rican artist, hosted a leg of his TrapXFicante tour at the James L. Knight Center with a lineup of artists making special appearances, including Lary Over, Jacob Forever, Yandel, Justin Quiles, Ñengo Flow, and Tory Lanez.

“I do not want to work with Daddy Yankee.” That’s a bold declaration from a Latinx producer in Miami. But producer Daniel Mendez is resisting the lucrative allure of reggaeton often presented to his peers. Mendez is adding a new pulse to Miami’s electronic scene under his stage name, Triangles. Mendez’s…

Mystvries will bring the jams (and the chills) to Popcorn Frights this weekend.

Miami-based artist and musician Adel Souto has been toiling away in different forms of artistic expression the last few decades while fine-tuning his industrial leanings through his band, 156. “In 2012, I was managing a tattoo studio in Manhattan, and there were a lot of bones around, as decorative curios,”…

In case you’re in a heat-induced stupor, yesterday was 8/08 — meaning August 8, but also 808 Day, a celebration of the electronic drum machine. You know, the one that Future and Jay-Z have shouted out in lyrics, the one countless other artists have used to make mainstream pop, R&B,…

Jack Massic’s new song, “Always,” has all the makings of a certified summer anthem. The video for the song, shot in Liberty City and Wynwood, premiered last month.

Local band Chicken Liquor collaborates with Miami artist Antonia Wright on music video for “Quince.”

Well, Kodak, it turns out they do like to see you winning. Pompano Beach rapper Kodak Black has been nominated for Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards. He’s facing off against fellow MC Young M.A, R&B singers SZA and Khalid, and Miley Cyrus’ sister Noah for the coveted prize.

Contrary to popular belief, South Florida’s music scene is alive and well in the summertime.

Bachaco recently signed on for a residency at the Hard Rock Café at Bayside. The band will begin rocking the downtown Miami venue the first Wednesday of every month beginning September 6.

Poet, journalist, musician, scenester — all that and more. Adam Matza has been a member of South Florida’s music scene in one shape or another for a handful of decades. Now he has a new gig: integral member of the tricounty noise music scene, as both host and performer. After…

Five years ago, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade were still with the Miami Heat and we re-elected Barack Obama. In retrospect, it feels like a simpler, safer time to have been alive. But just because we’re in a social nosedive doesn’t mean 2012’s legacy doesn’t live on. Take Cheap Miami,…

Singer-songwriter Victoria Blue is embracing the unknown these days. In a not-so-distant past life in marketing, she quit her day job, sold her house, and got to work building a solo singing career. Blue wrote and recorded for the first time at just 11 years old. Her family’s neighbor…